Friday, October 11, 2013

Way Back When - Day 11

Back in the day, I loved creating art on any surface. I used paper, sketchbooks, and canvas to share how I was feeling at the time. Once I delved into quilting, I couldn't stop. Fabric and thread spoke to me in a way that no other art medium could. Sharpies and oil pastels are still my favorite ways to create my initial ideas that later become quilts. Plus, I like the practical nature of giving something that's artistic and functional at the same time in a quilt.

Here's a diptych I made a few years ago:

Cosmic Lovers
(Oil pastels on canvas)

I had dreams of making this into a quilt for a long time. I gave it to my brother-in-love in PA and forgot all about it until recently. I am putting it up here to remind myself to make this piece a fabric reality some time soon.

Babies!

I adore making baby quilts. They were easier to make when I first learned how to piece and quilt so I made a few of them as my friends and family started having kids. This little Noah's Ark quilt was created for my nephew 6 years ago. I found this fabric on a road trip to PA and knew I wanted all of those colors to fill his crib with color and love after he was born.

He couldn't stop somersaulting while I was trying to get pictures.
He's quite adorable!

I wish I had close up photos of the variegated rainbow thread used to piece these blocks together and applique the little animals around the front border. I even quilted an A for his name in the center which you can see faintly. The back was hand painted fabric by my girlfriend which I bordered on all sides with rainbow scraps of fabric. (I forgot to allow for the large binding and so you can't even see the hearts and colors that border the back that I was so proud of piecing.)

It took me forever to do the math on the color blocks on the front and back to make them fit together! This was made long before I had my techniques down and so I see all of these things I would change now if I had to make this quilt again. Nevertheless it's still one of my favorites.

I have come along way in my style and with my designs but do enjoy this trip down memory lane to see where I started.